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Rl Wolfe: Implementing Self-Directed Teams.

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MGT 510
ASSIGNMENT

RL WOLFE: IMPLEMENTING SELF-DIRECTED TEAMS.
A CASE REVIEW

RL WOLFE: IMPLEMENTING SELF-DIRECTED TEAMS.

INTRODUCTION:
The self-directed work team is an autonomous work unit capable of self-management. Such team has little need for direct supervision from managers; rather, the manager’s role is to meet the need of the team through the provision of resources, training and encouragement (Douglas & Gardner, 2004). The team is typically comprised of 5 to 15 members who are responsible for performing and managing all or most aspect of a set of interdependent work tasks (Yeatts and Hyten, 1998). In order to overcome the competitive challenge for production efficiency and effectiveness, organizations have focused on …show more content…

In all, 90 workers were hired including 20 workers from Moon Plastic Plant.
Team Setup and Responsibilities: The SDT model anticipate that workers would view the production process as an aggregate of interdependent job functions that are equally responsible for the quality of the final product. Two teams of 12 – 15 people were set up for each shift. The workers are rotated through all the jobs in the factory at regular intervals, thus ensuring all workers fully understand the production process.
Role of the Coordinator: The coordinator of a SDT will serve various roles based on the need of the team. These roles may include acting as a directive leader, a coach, a supportive leader and as a delegating leader. The coordinator provides the team with resources and information required for decision making. ISSUES AND PROBLEM:
RL Wolfe operates two other plants with unionized workforce. The union contracts at these plants have workers in two divisions: production and maintenance. The maintenance personnel were paid a higher wage than production personnel, and workers lack the flexibility to work across divisions even when simple intervention would prevent shut down of the extrusion line.
Conflict between the line operators and maintenance workers occurs when there is equipment breakdown. Often there is disagreement on the cause of the problem and the best way to resolve it. Lack of communication

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